Fallout Federation
by The Space Cat
Summary: Join Alex and the people he meets in their struggle for survival in a VRMMO that's gotten a bit out of hand.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hi guys!**

 **I thought I'd try my hand at writing a fanfiction for a crossover of two things I like a fair bit (why not hey), and hopefully I don't abandon this immediately like everything else I do (I procrastinate on procrastinating. Don't ask me how).**

 **If you want to leave a review, go right ahead. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but if you feel like submitting an OC, send it in thru a PM.**

 **Thanks guys!**

-FF-

 _June 23rd, 2024  
2:45pm  
3 hrs 36 mins before FF incident_

As Alex looked over his birthday haul once again, he was content with what he saw. For a 16th birthday, a NerveGear rig and a copy of the newest VRMMO game, Fallout Federation, was almost overkill. His parents were well-off financially, but the NerveGear would've still set them back a pretty penny. But then again, after the overwhelming success of the Japan-exclusive Sword Art Online, it was practically a faux pa to be without a rig of your own.

Fallout Federation was the highly anticipated sequel to Fallout 5, which drew massive praise for its immense map size, integral dialogue system, and general freedom to do whatever you wanted in the wasteland of New Orleans. However, this promised to be all Fallout 5 was and more, with improvements around the board, a map rougly the size of the United States, and a global server which would soon hold up to 3 million people, with universal translation technology. The list went on, and the creators were surely filling their pockets with the funds from the now 2.2 million worldwide copies sold.

However, there was only one way to find out whether what Bethesda and Obsidian were saying was true, and that was by diving in. But, the launch wasn't for another 3 hours, so Alex still had some time to kill. He scampered down to the beach for a while, hitting it off with a few ladies, before heading back without a single phone number. Alex thought he was charismatic. Alex was, apparently, quite wrong. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. He wasn't ugly per say, but he wasn't exactly a golden boy either. He was slim, but no six-pack. He was tall, but yet, was still shorter than half of the guys in his year. He had a sun-bleached dirty-blonde hair which mopped to his shoulders, but not the classic surfer complexion. He had good teeth, but his nose was all out of joint from the countless times it had broken, being hit with shoulders, knees and the occasional fist. He didn't get into fights very often, but when he did, he always seemed to cop one in the nose. Of course, his avid interest in rugby didn't do it much help either.

Sighing, he turned away from the bathroom mirror, and walked over to his bed. 4:15. 2 hours is more than enough time to create a character and go for a wander right? He chucked on a comfy shirt and some tracksuits, flopped onto his bed, and flicked the Nervegear on. His mother would be home soon enough to unplug him for dinner, and so he glanced out the window to the beach below, watching as the waves rolled in lazily. He smiled a half-smile, and lay back on his pillow. "Link Start!" He said, and instantly he felt his world give away from under him.

Alex found himself standing in a white space with countless menus popping up and closing before him, before finally a quick opening cinematic began to play.

An image of Vault Boy flashed in mid air. "Hello Player! Welcome to the world of Fallout Federation, the biggest global VRMMO to date with currently over 2.4 million logged users and counting! Before you jump into the wasteland, there are a few things you need to know" a voice stated with enthusiasm, and the image flashed to one of Vault Boy posing as the Thinker. "Step one; you'll need to choose a name. It may be tempting to just use your real one, but we at Bethesda recommend an Alias that will show up to those who aren't on your friend's list. Step two; you'll need to create a character. We have worked to make the character creator as flexible as possible, but there is also the option of recreating your real body's image to use or modify from. Step three, the longest step, is to go through the S.P.E.C.I.A.L Test! This involves using a combination of real-world and game-assisted abilities to determine your base stats for the game. After that, it's off into the wastelands with you!" The voice continued. The initial image popped up again, as the voice once again spoke. "Once again, thank you for joining us on Launch Day, as such you have been given the gift of 3 extra S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points to allocate as you like in the game! We hope you enjoy yourself!" It stated over some cheery music, as the room morphed into a character creator screen.

At the prompt, Alex input his full name, Alex Bowman, and entered the alias Bowman. He used this alias because he used it for everything else, why not this? Plus, it was a name that he would already instinctively respond to, were someone trying to catch his attention. Once in the actual creator, Alex used his own body as a template, and then began sculpting what he believed was the peak version of himself - rippling muscles, tall and heroic stature, tanned to perfection, symmetrical face, a true 'lady killer'. Once he was content with his mass of sex appeal, he continued onto the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Test, and was first greeted with a room that looked similar to the gym he sometimes attended. The system walked him through numerous exercises and regimes, and was left with a Strength Stat of 5, Agility of 2 and Endurance of 7. Then the scene changed, and he was greeted with a warehouse-style space. He was instructed to find a way out and take any valuables with him along the way. He found numerous hidden caches of caps, bullets and varying degrees of weapons and armour, and stumbled across a hatch to let him out. After this exercise, his Perception and Luck Stats were revealed, at 7 and 5 respectively. The scene then changed to a lecture hall, where a young female professor was teaching a subject on who knows what. After attempting to bullshit his way through most of the class, and his shoddy attempts to get the teacher's phone number, his Intelligence and Charisma were revealed, at a shocking 3 and 1 respectively. While mostly content with his results, the Charisma stat astounded him. Sulking a bit, he felt the scene change again around him, and began to enter the wasteland for the first time.

 _June 23rd, 2024  
5:04pm_  
 _1 hr 22 mins before FF incident_

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was musty, yet sterile at the same time, like a storage chest in the attic that your grandfather kept his memories in, mixed with the smell of a doctor's surgery. When he opened his eyes and looked around him, he was met with pale, cold, metal walls that encased what he presumed to be his bedroom. In said bedroom, he saw 3 other bunk beds, and multi-levelled dressers for each of them. _So, I guess this is my starting vault. Not bad, I wonder what number it is?_ Alex pondered, and quickly checked his inventory with a press of his Pip-Boy. He was met with minimal stuff - an empty Nuka Cola Bottle, 30 caps and a Vault 553 Jumpsuit. _Vault 553? There's this many vaults? Wow, I was expecting something in the low hundreds!_ he thought, slightly taken aback by the number on his suit. Looking in a mirror, he saw the reflection of a man who looked familiar, yet different at the same time. Of course, it was just him, but a better version. V2. Yeah. Exiting his room, he looked over the railing of a connecting walkway to the large, bustling common area below. He saw people of all different shapes and sizes, girls and boys, and all different races. Hell, he even thought he saw a few Ghouls chatting up a group of cutesy, busty girls - whether they were actually girls or not was another story entirely. In a way, he was happy he kept similarities to himself in his avatar - should he meet anyone in game who he'd meet outside the game, he'd like it not to be too much of a shock, and hoped that others had similar mindsets, but it was hard to tell with gamers.

While focusing on the crowd below, he barely noticed a group of what could only be described as frat boys clambering towards him. Using his instincts, he turned and hugged the railing to allow the large group of larger guys barge past. This prompted a window to open on his HUD, stating _'Awareness levelled up to 2!' Huh, so its a progressive levelling system, but it still has S.P.E.C.I.A.L. menus? Interesting concept._ Alex thought bemused, as he began towards the masses below him.

As Alex pushed through the hordes of people in the commons, Alex noticed how unaware some of these people were. He saw on at least 3 separate occasions people getting blatantly pickpocketed, and yet, they remained unaware. _Well, I guess a few extra resources couldn't hurt_ he reasoned with himself, and began looking for a target. One ditzy looking buxom blonde was caught up chatting to a group of 6 mountainous men, and was visibly quite overwhelmed. Moving in and engaging sneak mode, he dug into her inventory, and was surprised at the amount of caps she had. It was then when Alex noticed the stolen tag attached to at least 200 of them - she was robbing the men herself! Steeling his resolve, he took 120 of her stash of around 300, and slipped away into the crowd. He retreated back to his room, and found a dresser marked "Bowman's Dresser". It was a personal storage that had a permanent link to his avatar, so no other players could access it. He dropped his stash of caps into the dresser, and went back down into the crowd.

After another half hour or so, Alex had accrued a large sum of 648 caps, and even an Auto 10mm Pistol from an unsuspecting guard. His Pickpocket level had skyrocketed to 8, and his awareness and sneak skills had also increased to a decent Level 3. As he prepared to go back for another trip, another window popped up on his HUD. _'Attention Players! A major server announcement is about to take place! Force teleport to Vault Commons will occur in 20... 19... 18...'_ Surprised, Alex grabbed his amassment of stolen goods, and anything else of remote value in his room that wasn't nailed down. With an inventory full of caps and junk, he felt himself blink down towards the common room, and found that he was secured in place. Attempting to pickpocket didn't work either. A guard took to a platform that extended out from the wall. "Please refrain from chatter as the server announcement takes place. Outbursts will be dealt with by a temporary mute. Thank you for your co-operation" he said in a monotone. As he finished, a figure emerged behind him, in a bright royal blue and gold jumpsuit that read 'Overseer' on the chest, but, less noticeably, there was a faded but copious amount of blood around the neckline. He began to speak.

"Hello players! Welcome to the world of Fallout Federation! Now you may have been expecting an appearance by Todd Howard or another member of the Bethesda team, however unfortunately, they have been... predisposed of. However, don't fret my fellow players, because they had their usual mediocre plans for this game. It would receive a few DLCs, and then it would be left to eventually bleed out and die. However, some of my peers and I have decided that treating a game like that just won't cut it, especially considering how much this game has to offer. And so, we've decided to... well, pretty much take you hostage. To make this the most realistic world possible, we've removed the log out button. This is your world now! In fact, to increase the realism, the pain absorption will be decreased, and the microwave receptors in the rig have been repurposed to kill you should your avatar's HP reach zero. Now I know what you're thinking. 'Holy shit, he can't be serious! I have *insert responsibility here* to get to! I need to see *children/family members/friends* again! I know, we'll just kill them!' Well, even if one of you managed to come close enough to our level during the... half hour or so of the vault doors opening, we've enabled god mode on ourselves - and only ourselves - for the first month of the game, more than enough time for us to return to our base of operations and begin maintaining the game."

"So. If, for some reason, you do want to leave the game, the only way you can do it alive, is to clear the game. What do I mean by 'clear'? You need to eradicate the Institute from across the wasteland, and also clear every outpost of Raiders, Gunners, Ceaser's Legion and so on. However, feel free to join up with these groups, as it was programmed in for a reason. Now, enough blabbering. The vault doors will require opening, and if it is not achieved within 10 minutes, the entire Vault will be gassed. Good luck players, you'll need it." The figure said with great enthusiasm, an enthusiasm which was not shared with the rest of the crowd. "Oh, and one more thing, check your inventories, there's a little... gift from us, to you. Enjoy!" he added briefly, before retreating to the Overseer's office. The crowd instinctively equipped the gift, named 'A Piece of Reflective Glass', and in a flash, the shape and size of the crowd changed again. Alex felt his heart sink, as he stared back not at the lady killer he had created, but at himself, and saw others encountering the same dilemma. This was not good.

Suddenly, the unfreeze occured, and chaos ensued. People rushed towards the door of Vault 553, and the higher Strength players attempted to move the door aside by hand. Intelligence mains took a look over the door controls, looking for any clues to leave the vault. Some ran to their rooms, crying and embracing their demise. Alex scanned the entire expanse of the vault, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small hatch marked "Emergency". He immediately bolted up the stairs, and made for the hatch. People followed him as he went, and tried to push past, but Alex barely made it first, and he leaped up towards the door of the hatch. It came open with a bit of force, and he began up the old rusty ladder, followed by countless others. Peeking his head out, he found himself in what looked like a train corridor, yet there were no tracks or signs of trains in sight. There was a door to his left, which he shot open, and sprinted down the stairs towards the bottom.

When he arrived at the bottom of the stairwell, another door met him, which he swung opened with ease. He burst through it, and was surprised to see the other side of the vault door. There was another set of Vault Controls, which were on a platform connecting to the door. Looking it over, he spotted a 'Low Power' warning, and looked for a connection. The wire that connected the control panel to the fusion generator was frayed, and sparks were flying everywhere. Examining the wire, a prompt appeared on Alex's HUD, saying it required 5 intelligence to repair it with his current resources. Sighing, he opened his skill menu, and invested 2 of the extra 3 S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points into intelligence, and activated the prompt. It took a few seconds, before the wire appeared fixed, and the controls lit up. He plugged in his Pip-Boy, and smacked the 'Door Release' button. It creaked open, and a flood of dwellers spewed out of the opening, and before too long, the vault was empty. However, the gas had started to release, and so he reactivated the door, and it rolled to a close before the toxin could escape. As the door shut, he found a small (...) icon next to his name. When activated, a menu appeared which read 'Titles', and the first one on his list was 'Savior of Vault 553'. He smiled, but it was no sooner wiped off his face as an inhuman roar echoed throughout the tunnel system. He may have been out of the frying pan, but he was right into the fire now.

 **A/N: Well, that was interesting. I'm keen to write more, so I'll upload another one soon.**

 **But until then, drive safe, and catch ya later :3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, back with another chapter.**

 **Just thought I should mention the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats and the skill stats (eg. Pickpocket) are out of 100, like Skyrim's levelling system (otherwise Alex's starting stats would be fairly OP)**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

 _June 23rd, 2024  
6:57pm  
22 mins after Hijacking_

Jasmine and Charlotte pulled into an alcove of the endless train tunnels. The sisters both looked at each other and scanned themselves. They weren't their avatars anymore - they looked at their mirror like everyone else. Jasmine, username Jas, the younger one at 16, sported a messy bun of her white hair, with flicks of greyish dust from the tunnels they'd been running through woven through her white-gold locks. Her Vault 553 jumpsuit was torn wide at the forearm from catching it on a nail, making it hang loose around her arm and lowered some of the defenses the outfit came with, and was otherwise coated in grime. She had lost the pair of glasses she had with her avatar, which served no use in the game, but made her look incomplete without it. Charlotte, username Char **(Pronounced Shar)** , whilst 19, looked very similar to her sister, except she lacked glasses, had more auburn hair and had it flowing down behind her back. Her Vault Suit was also covered in dirt but at least wasn't in need of repair like her sister's. Charlotte sank her head into her hands and began to cry.

"Fucking hell Jas, why'd you have to drag me into this?" Charlotte said sobbing. "I know you spend all your time in your room by yourself, but I have a life! Friends I need to see! Hell, my boyfriend is probably wondering why I haven't showed up to our date, and it's all your fault! I mean-" Charlotte bawling was cut short by Jasmine slapping her across the face. "You agreed to do this with me! You said we'd bond and do sister stuff! I mean, you bought the Nervegears! Don't pin this entirely on me - how the hell was I supposed to know this would happen?" Jasmine yelled in response, getting up in her face. They both huffed and shrunk back away from each other. "Well, we're stuck here now, so why don't we find a way out of these tunnels hey?" Jas said, much quieter to her still-sniffling sister.

Looking around the tunnel, they saw a red door across from them, which was boarded up with 3 rotten planks of wood. They looked at each other, and both rushed over to examine it. "If only that boy who saved us was here, he looked like he could pry these off" Jasmine said to herself, which caught the attention of her sister. "Jas, we're not going to go back to that glorified gas chamber to look for a boy. If you see him when we're out of here alive, maybe you can say 'hi', but right now, we need to get this door open" Charlotte replied, rolling her eyes. They both grabbed an end of a plank, and with a bit of effort, the nail pulled out of the doorframe, taking the plank and the girls with it to the ground. They got up and pulled the other two off with similar effort, and found it locked. "Hold on, I've got this" Jas said, as she crouched in front of the door, and took a bobby pin and screwdriver out of her inventory. "Where'd you find those?" Charlotte asked, suprised. "Hell do you even know what you're doing?" Jas glanced over her shoulder and said "In here, lockpicking's just a minigame. Plus with my high Perception, I have a better chance of finding the sweet spot." She responded as she continued to move the pin in the lock, and before long a click signified the door opening. She pushed it to find it blocked by something heavy on the other side. The two sisters pushed against the door, and soon, whatever was in front of the door toppled over, allowing the door to swing open fully.

A radiation-scarred corpse was trapped underneath a heavy bookcase, and next to it lay a fairly full sack of supplies. Charlotte began to walk in before Jas dragged her back "Char!" she whispered sharply. "That's a ghoul. We need to kill it. Grab one of the boards and smash its head in."

"Why do I need to do it?"

"You've got the higher Strength, you'll hit it harder."

Charlotte sighed, and retrieved a board. She engaged stealth mode by crouching, and crept over to the sleeping ghoul. She raised the board above her head, nail pointing down, and swung hard.

-0-

 _June 23rd, 2024  
7:30pm  
1 hr 4 mins after Hijacking_

Alex peeked around the corner. He spotted a solid iron gate, with what looked like an exit sign above it, but before it, he saw leather clad men walking in monitoring rotations and immediately his heart sank. Raiders. Engaging VATS, he checked their levels, and while they were not much higher than him, they all had guns, and Alex had half a clip at most of ammo left. A single bullet surely would kill in the real world, but in Fallout, you didn't live by reality's rules. Your health bar dipped until you were dead, that was it. No 1 hit headshots with a 10mm. He walked back into the small office he had wandered through towards this set of tracks and scanned the rooms. He felt his Perception stat kick in as his eye caught a small first aid kit inside an office. Inside was a stimpack and bandage, but this wouldn't kill a half-dozen raiders.

Bowman continued to look around, and came across a door marked 'Conductor's Terminals - No Unauthorised Entry Permitted'. He pushed it open, and found a skeleton leaning back on a chair in front of numerous monitors, all of which were off. He sighed, and began to turn away, before he spotted something in the skeleton's hand. Wandering into the room, he saw a large amount of blue and black plastic inhalers covering the ground, and another in his hand. Examining the item, he found a name for it. 'X-Cell'. When he saw the effects, his eyes widened. A 10+ to all of his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats for 2 minutes was a extremely useful resource, and he then understood its immense value. Alex pocketed the inhaler, and began to search through the others on the floor for another possibly unused one. After 5 minutes of looking, he hadn't been lucky, however he spotted a small lunch pail under the desk. He touched the metal box, and a scrolling menu appeared in front of him, with 10mm rounds at the top of the list. _Thank you luck!_ Alex thought to himself, as he took it and the other junk inside.

Reloading the pistol, he stood back in front of the raiders, holding the 10mm in his right hand, and the X-Cell inhaler in the other. He held it to his mouth, and pressed the twin blue tubes on the side down, and felt a powder enter his lungs. He coughed a little, but instantly felt a rush of energy through him. He looked down at his arms to see his veins pulsing an unnatural black-blue colour. He slid the slide of the pistol back, the 'clack' echoing through the tunnel, and engaged VATS.

"What was that?" A raider said, and pointed in his direction, before 3 rounds drilled through his skull. Immediately a wall of 4 more leather clad enemies took his place, and started to trade fire with their pipe pistols. However, their rounds barely dipped his health bar, with the 17 Endurance Alex sported.

Soon enough, the other 4 were shot dead like the first, and immediately, Alex felt himself crash down from his chem high. He saw his health bar drop abruptly, and then felt himself black out and suddenly the floor disappeared beneath him.

-0-

"Do you feel safer now Char?" Jas asked her sister, who was trailing behind her, fiddling with her new 10mm. "I guess, I still don't know how to use this though" she replied. "It's pretty simple, just make sure you have ammo first, and then slide the top part back, flick the safety off, point and shoot." the younger sister stated, making a finger gun and 'pew'ing her sister. She turned back around, but suddenly heard a close gunshot and scream. She whipped back around, and saw the 10mm lying on the ground, smoking, and Charlotte on the ground away from it. "Jesus Christ Charlotte! Put your safety on until I tell you, ok?" She nodded, picked up her pistol, and began walking beside her sister, who turned back with a huff.

They rounded the corner, and came across a small wooden structure, covered in blood and bulletholes, and a Vault Dweller with a mop of dirty blonde hair covered in bulletholes himself, spasming on the ground. His health was dangerously low, and he had 2 status conditions - one that read 'Bleeding Out', and the other which read 'In Shock'.

"Oh my god! That's the kid from the vault! Quick Charlotte, stimpack!" Jas yelled frantically back at her sister.

"I don't have one!" she responded

"Fuck! Uh... Oh! Go search the bodies, they might have one" the younger sister urged, as she turned back to the boy and began to compress his chest, hopefully resuscitating him.

Charlotte ran over to the structure, and was immediately met with a smell of blood and hot metal. She held her nose, and opened the corpses' menus, sifting through the junk of low level loot. She began to lose hope as she looked through 4 of the 5 corpses inventories, when she saw the word 'Stimpack' staring back at her from the fifth. She called for her sister, who was beginning to lose him.

"Catch!" Charlotte called, as she tossed the syringe to her sister. Jas caught it, and immediately plunged it down into his chest. His HP began to rise again, and the statuses cured themselves. The sisters stood back, as the boy went limp on the ground. Suddenly, he jerked upright, eyes wide open and sharply inhaling.

"HOLY SHIT! H-HOLY SH... WHAT W-W-" he stammered.

"Woah, woah, calm down, you're alright, you're alright" Jas repeated as she crouched next to him. "I assume you were the one who killed those raiders?" she quizzed.

"Uh... I think so, sorry, head's a bit fuzzy at the moment" he said deleriously. He looked himself over and saw the masses of holes in his Vault Suit, and remarked "Oh my god, I look like Swiss cheese, guess it was me who took them on." While his suit was at the point of no repair, the stimpack was doing its work, the flesh was visibly knitting itself back together.

"Anyway, my name's Jas, or Jasmine, and that's my sister Charlotte, or Char for short." The platinum-haired teen said. "You were the one that freed us from the Vault right? 553? I just wanted to say, I'm eternally grateful that you actually came to help instead of just leaving us in that glorified gas chamber." she added more quietly, a light blush spreading across her cheeks.

"R-right, you're welcome I guess," the boy responded nervously. "Oh and I'm Bowman, or Alex, whichever you like," he added quickly, extending his hand. Jas took it, pulled him to his feet, and shook his hand, avoiding eye contact where she could. Charlotte snickered at the two younger kids.

Clearing his throat, Alex continued "...anyway, it seems like there's a way out up there, just through that metal gate. It's been nice meeting you guys, and I hope you do well, but I guess until we see each other again-"

"U-uh sorry, just, I thought maybe we could possibly team up, just cause, y'know, 'safety in numbers' and all," Jasmine interrupted, sheepishly looking at the ground, earning an eye roll from her sister. "Oh my god Jas, leave him alone! Look, anyway, nice meeting you, and you're welcome for the save." Charlotte said with a brief smile.

"Actually, Jas has a point, we don't know what's up there and how much of it wants to kill us, so I'm not nessecarily opposed to teaming up for a while, at least until we're at a good point." Alex reasoned, making Jas' eyes light up. "Oh thank god I might actually last more than a day!" she whispered to herself as Alex headed over to the structure to scavenge some more.

* * *

 **A/N: So, that's Chapter 2 done! I've always liked the world of Fallout, and since I watched SAO, I always try and imagine what would happen if a similar situation broke out inside some of my favourite games.**

 **Please leave reviews! I don't care if you flame the shit out of me, or dazzle me with amazing commentary on my writing skills, just as long as you get a point across and I'll see what I can do. Feel free to PM me OCs as well if you like, but no Mary-Sues please.**

 **Until next time, drive safe, and enjoy your holidays!**


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